Curtin Sarawak students benefit from SPE Petroleum Week 2016

Miri – 1 July 2016 – The recent Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Petroleum Week 2016 organised by the SPE Student Chapter of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) proved to be of great benefit to students of the university.

The event themed ‘Hydrocarbon: Limitless Opportunities and Potential’ saw students participating in ‘Mud Innovation’ and ‘Oil Rig’ technical competitions, attending technical talks and an Oil & Gas exhibition, as well as going on a laboratory tour at the campus and visits to industrial sites in Miri.

The laboratory tour was aimed at generating interest in the field of petroleum engineering among new students, while the technical talks by invited speakers covered topics such as reservoir drive mechanisms, water injection operation, and the importance of petropyhsics.

At the Oil & gas exhibition themed ‘Everything You Need to Know About the Oil and Gas Industry’, over 100 posters relating to the oil and gas industry were displayed. Curtin Sarawak’s industry partners Sarawak Shell and Oceancare took part in the exhibition, showcasing coring samples and equipment and giving talks on health, safety and environmental (HSE) matters.

Site visits to the offices and facilities of Halliburton, Sarawak Shell and Reservoir Link provided the students a first-hand look into the operations of the companies and helped them relate theories learnt in the classroom to real industry scenarios.

Head of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Curtin Sarawak’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, Associate Professor Dr Sharul Sham bin Dol, said SPE Petroleum Week 2016 was a tremendous success and will be the benchmark for future SPE events at the university. He thanked the Faculty of Engineering and Science, as well as the university’s Office of Learning and Teaching, for their sponsorship of the event.

Senior lecturer in petroleum engineering and advisor to the student chapter Dr. Mohamed Ali, meanwhile, congratulated the organising committee for putting together the event, saying it was the best the student chapter has organised.

The Curtin University Sarawak SPE Student Chapter was awarded the 2015 SPE Outstanding Student Chapter Award by SPE International last year alongside universities in Indonesia, India, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States. The award is the highest honour conferred to a student chapter in recognition of its exemplary industry engagement, operations and planning, community involvement, professional development and innovation.

SPE International is the largest individual-member organisation serving managers, engineers, scientists and other professionals in the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry worldwide. Its student chapters are university-based groups of SPE student members providing an operating framework for society activities at university level. Presently, there are more than 360 SPE student chapters worldwide.

Enrolment for Curtin Sarawak’s second semester intake is now in progress with classes for undergraduate programmes commencing on 1 August 2016 and foundation programmes on 15 August. For more information, visit www.curtin.edu.my/future/enquiry.htm.

Group photo of SPE Petroleum Week 2016 participants and organising committee.

Representative from Oceancare demonstrating use of rope access equipment.